What if rather than turning homicidal, like HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey, an artificial intelligence was built for unconditional love? Kubrick began the process of adapting Brian Aldiss’s short story “Supertoys Last All Summer Long” in 1982 and continued development through much of the 1990s, incorporating elements of The Adventures of Pinocchio. Admiring Spielberg’s handle on digital effects and thinking the project would align better with his sensibilities, Kubrick suggested Spielberg direct. After Kubrick’s death, Spielberg picked up the story of a young robot boy (uncannily played by Haley Joel Osment) on an odyssey to become a real boy.